Small-scale Fisher's Views about the Efficacy of Seasonal Closures in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico PublicDeposited

Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, held July 11-15, 2016 at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center (AECC), Aberdeen, Scotland, UK.

Suggested Bibliographic Reference: Challenging New Frontiers in the Global Seafood Sector: Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, July 11-15, 2016. Compiled by Stefani J. Evers and Ann L. Shriver. International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET), Corvallis, 2016.

Descriptions

Notwithstanding the increasing use of area and seasonal closures to promote the sustainable use of coral reef fisheries, few studies have examined the socio-economic performance of these management strategies. This study describes small-scale fishermen's views regarding the biological and socioeconomic performance of these management tools off Puerto Rico. Our findings, which draw from 150 in-person interviews, show that a significant proportion of fishermen believe that both area and seasonal closures are useful tools for protecting spawning aggregations and increasing fish abundance. The study also showed that despite these reported benefits fishermen's support for existing area and seasonal closures has only marginally increased over the years. This marginal change may be reflective of the economic impacts of displacement faced by fishing communities. Fishermen also stated that limited enforcement adversely impacts the efficacy of these management tools by dissipating conservation gains.